The Dictionary Definition of Racism
|
|
Just as public support for the Black Lives Matter movement and nationwide protests over police violence are moving Americans toward positive social changes, so too do they reveal an inadequacy in how we have defined racism.
We've written frequently about how the meanings of words change over time. The prescriptivists among us tend to hold on to meanings that have served us well (e.g., impact, literally), while the descriptivists more readily adapt to evolving uses. We've talked about how pronunciations change as well (e.g., forte, schism).
We've also written about emergent words that describe new concepts and technologies (e.g., app, bromance).
This week we noticed what seems to us to be a subtle yet significant twist in the area of changing definitions and new words. Some of you may have noticed recent news articles reporting that the editors at Merriam-Webster announced they will be revising their definition of racism.
The reason we say this is subtle and significant is that it differs from how we've described these changes in the past. This time, it doesn't concern how the population generally uses the word or what word a new technology is requiring to describe it; rather, we've discovered the dictionary definition of racism has lacked a necessary element for greater understanding.
Merriam-Webster defines racism as
1: a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race
2a: a doctrine or political program based on the assumption of racism and designed to execute its principles
b: a political or social system founded on racism
3: racial prejudice or discrimination
A recent graduate of Drake University wrote a series of emails to the editors at Merriam-Webster convincing them their entry needed to reflect how racism is systemically embedded in our society's institutions. She noted how people tend to focus on Webster's first definition, which emphasizes individuals' beliefs but overlooks systemic racism. She wrote, "There is a system, and then there is individual bias. There are structures that perpetuate racism and then people who give in to that system. These two things should go hand in hand."
Following internal discussions, an editor at M-W responded, "We will make the idea of systemic or institutional racism even more explicit in the wording of the definition."
Even though the dictionary definition didn't include this dimension, the spirit of racism did. Can improving a word's definition help to improve us as a society? We hope so. The editors at Merriam-Webster are at work revising the second part of their definition. We'll let you know what results.
|
View and comment on this
article on our website.
|
|
Offer Extended!
A Note to Teachers and Parents
We at GrammarBook.com want to help make teaching English grammar and punctuation less stressful during this potentially difficult period when many students are sheltering in place and schools are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From March 25, 2020, through June 30, 2020, we are cutting the price in half for any new Quiz Subscriptions for Teachers, Parents, and Employers. Click on Subscription Quizzes for the details.
|
Free BONUS Quiz for You!
[[firstname]], because you are a subscriber to the newsletter, you get access to one of the Subscribers-Only Quizzes. Click here to take a Confusing Words and Homonyms Quiz and get your scores and explanations instantly!
We will be adding many more quizzes this year to our already substantial list of quizzes. If you have suggestions for topics we have not yet covered, please send us a message at help@grammarbook.com.
|
Hundreds of Additional Quizzes
at Your Fingertips
Subscribe now to receive hundreds of additional English usage quizzes not found anywhere else!
Teachers and Employers
Save hours of valuable time! You may assign quizzes to your students and employees and have their scores tallied, organized, and reported to you! Let GrammarBook.com take the hassle out of teaching English!
"Fun to test my skills."
"The explanations really help ... thanks!"
"I can select the quizzes to assign to my students, and then the results are reported to me automatically!"
|
|
Don't need all the quizzes?
You can now purchase the same quizzes individually for ONLY 99¢ each.
Purchase yours here. |
If you think you have found an error in a quiz, please email us at help@grammarbook.com
|
 |
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
by Jane Straus, Lester Kaufman, and Tom Stern |
The Authority on English Grammar! Eleventh Edition Now Available
An indispensable tool for busy professionals, teachers, students, homeschool families, editors, writers, and proofreaders.
Available in print AND as an e-Book! Over 2,000 copies are purchased every month!
The publisher of The Blue Book, Jossey-Bass, A Wiley brand, is offering a 35 percent discount for those of you who order the book through Wiley.com. Shipping and tax are not included. Simply go to bit.ly/1996hkA and use discount code E9X4A.
Offer expires December 31, 2020.
|
Wordplay
Therapist: Your wife says you never buy her flowers. Is that true? Husband: To be honest, I never knew she sold flowers.
The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
|
 |
English In A Snap:
68 One-Minute English Usage Videos FREE |
Learn all about who and whom, affect and effect, subjects and verbs, adjectives and adverbs, commas, semicolons, quotation marks, and much more by just sitting back and enjoying these easy-to-follow lessons. Tell your colleagues (and boss), children, teachers, and friends. Click here to watch.
|
|
